David Tennant BiographyBookmark and Share

Friday, 15 April 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Some biographical information on David Tennant, the tenth Doctor Who: Born in West Lothian, Tennant is a respected classical actor who trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He began his career on the stage, performing as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including such roles as Touchstone in "As You Like It", Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet", Antipholus of Syracuse in "The Comedy of Errors" and Captain Jack Absolute in "The Rivals", and performing in such venues as the Yourng Vic, the Edinburgh Lyceum, the 7:84 theatre company and Dundee Rep. Tennant was was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for "Best Actor of 2002" for his performance in "Lobby Hero" at the Donmar Warehouse and the New Ambassador's Theatres.

Tennant's connections with the Doctor Who genre are extensive. A fan of the program, he hosted "Doctor Who: A New Dimension," the special preview documentary aired prior to the first episode of the new series on BBC1. He also played the role of the Caretaker in BBC Online's animated serial "The Scream of the Shalka" and has appeared in a variety of audio programs for Big Finish Productions, including as Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood in "Sympathy for the Devil," as Galanar in the "Dalek Empire III" series, as Daft Jamie in "Medicinal Purposes" as well as in "Colditz" and "Exile". Tennant also portrays the title role in Big Finish's audio adaptation of Bryan Talbot's "Luther Arkwright" series.

Among his many film and television experiences include roles in "Jude," "Duck Patrol," "Love in the 21st Century," "Bright Young Things," "The Deputy," "Bite," "The Last September," "Blackpool," "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)," "The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries," "Holding the Baby," "Posh Nosh," "Being Considered" and "L.A. Without a Map." He recently starred in the title role in BBC3's miniseries "Casanova" alongside Peter O'Toole, and as Briscoe in the BBC special live broadcast event "The Quatermass Experiment." He recently completed filming on "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," playing the role of Barty Crouch Jr.

"I was very small, about 3 or 4 I think, and just wanted to be the people on telly telling these wonderful stories," Tennant said about his longing to become an actor. "Obviously the idea grew and matured with me but I can't ever remember wanting to do anything else. I've just sort of taken it for granted all my life that that was what I would do." On how theatrical training has helped his career: "Drama school is a pretty intense experience and I think it changes who you are. I think I grew up at drama school (which was fairly useful personally as much as professionally) and I certainly got exposed to a huge range of ideas, techniques and practices that I had no previous experience of. I wouldn't have known what I was doing as an actor if I hadn't gone."

More details on Tennant can be found at his page at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).




FILTER: - David Tennant